


You Can Fight A Person But You Can’t Fight A Ghost

by Starry_seblos



Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: Fluff, Halloween, Haunted Houses, M/M, Non-binary Seb Matthew-Smith, Not Proofread, Seb and Gina friendship, Spooky, not really but still
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:35:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27304237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starry_seblos/pseuds/Starry_seblos
Summary: There’s an old legend surrounding a ‘haunted house’ on the outskirts of Salt Lake City, naturally Gina decides her first Halloween at East High is the perfect time to check it out, Seb just isn’t sure how they got dragged along.
Relationships: Gina Porter & Seb Matthew-Smith, Ricky Bowen/Nini Salazar-Roberts, Seb Matthew-Smith/Carlos Rodriguez
Kudos: 16





	You Can Fight A Person But You Can’t Fight A Ghost

It was EJs fault. There was no doubt in Seb's mind that this entire situation was EJ Caswell and his big mouths fault.

The fact that Halloween was on a Saturday had given Seb hope that maybe, just maybe, Halloween would go off without big issue in school. They had been going to school with practically the same group of people since they were 5 years old and they knew what was bound to happen.

Every year on Halloween something happened, last year it had been the seniors spreading pumpkin guts across the entirety of the school (people were still unsure of how they had managed to get such a high volume of the stuff because it was everywhere, the floors, the walls, in the lockers, on the ceiling. It would've been impressive if it wasn't so messy) 

Seb final year of middle school had been the year that someone had decided it would be funny to write messages written in blood across the walls, of course the blood was actually ketchup and the culprit had used the wrong "your" in their spelling of "you're all doomed" but the ketchup still stank that place out until summer rolled around, and once again, no one knew who did it.

Which is why Seb had their fingers crossed that the lack of school time on Halloween this year would spare them from having their locker vandalised with ketchup or pumpkin guts.

They almost managed it. Friday the 30th went off without a hitch, no ketchup, no pumpkin guts, no vengeful spirits, Seb had made it all the way to after school rehearsal and their locker was still in pristine condition.

Maybe that's why the actual event was so disappointing. Because after a full day without anyone carving a pentagram into the ceiling, in the break Jenn gave them in between blocking  
Stick To The Status Quo and Get'cha Head In The Game while she carted in the basketballs, EJ Caswell said those fateful words.

"So who's gonna be sacrificed to the Hillways this year?" 

Of course it was inevitable that someone would bring up the Hillways, it got brought up every year without fail. 

It was stupid, as far as Seb thought, the Hillways was one of the biggest superstitions in Salt Lake despite having no merit, someone supposedly got sacrificed to the Hillways every Halloween, and despite the population of Salt Lake staying fairly level every Halloween for the past few decades, the superstition surrounding the house lived on.

So the Hillways being brought up wasn't a big surprise, there was however, a factor Seb hadn't considered. Gina Porter.

"What's the Hillways?"

Seb felt Carlos shift slightly beside him at the mention of the house as everyone glanced around the room uneasily.

Finally Kourtney spoke up, "it's nothing, just a dumb superstition"

Seb felt themselves relax slightly, grateful that Kourtney had the sense to know that the Hillways was a ridiculous thing to be afraid of.

"Ok, don't listen to her, the Hillways is a very real thing". There it was again, EJ Caswell and his big mouth

"Ok, but what is the Hillways?" Gina asked again, clearly intrigued by the air of mystery surrounding it.

EJ grinned as Kourtney rolled her eyes at the prospect of hearing the played out story again.

"The Hillways is an old house that stands on the outskirts of Salt Lake City, years ago it was the grand home of a wealthy family called the Hillways. They were well liked by their neighbours, not that they had to many, the house was secluded in a deep wood" EJ began

"Oh so this is a full on ghost story?" Gina interrupted 

"Yeah, it's awesome" Ricky said, glancing towards Nini who seemed to be avoiding eye contact with her ex, that seemed like a story.

EJ just waved Gina away and continued the story "over time, the owner of the house, Charles Hillway, become more and more obsessed with his wealth, he horded it and became guarded from his neighbours-"

"I though you said he didn't have any neighbours" Gina interrupted again

"No, they just lived far away, outside the woods" Big Red explained, clearly not picking up on Gina's sarcastic tone.

"Can you guys just let me tell this story?" EJ complained. Seb shifted further towards Carlos, resting their head on their boyfriends shoulder, figuring if the were going to be forced to listen to this story again, they may as well be comfortable.

"Hillway cut the house off from the rest of the community, trapping his wife, son and daughter in the house with him to protect his precious money. His family became desperate to free him from his paranoia and return him to the man he once was. Desperate to regain their freedom, the Hillway children, Sebastian and Regina, discovered a book on the dark arts hidden in their library"

"Oh, I see where this is going" Gina muttered 

This time EJ simply glared at the girl before continuing his story. "They found that certain pages of the book were bookmarked, most prominently a summoning spell for the demon Mammon, an entity that promised eternal wealth to those who served it. Realising that their father had fallen under the demons spell, Sebastian and Regina set to work immediately to find a way of freeing their father from the demons clutches. They concocted a plan that came to a head on All Hallows' Eve to rescue their father and regain their freedom. The siblings misjudged the demons power, however, and were no match for the ancient entity. The demon overpowered them but was hurt in the process, and since that night on All Hallows' Eve, no member of the Hillway family has been seen again, and the demon Mammon lies in the house in wait for All Hallows' Eve to find a new child to sacrifice until he can regain his strength once more, waiting for the spirits of the Hillway children to return to the house so they might finish what they started that night"

Just as EJ finished the story, Jenn returned to the bomb shelter, pushing a cart of basketballs in front of her, "ok guys, breaks over, let's run this number" she announced with her typical Ms Jenn bubblyness, clearly missing the tense atmosphere of the room. "Ashlyn, honey, do you mind giving Seb a break and playing piano for us?"

The red head simply nodded moving from her seat to the piano, closely followed by Nini, who seemed to be talking animatedly to her as most memebers of the cast moved into the performance space. Carlos untangled himself from Seb, giving his boyfriend a quick peck on the cheek before moving to stand infront of the group of theatre kids looking lost with their basketballs, briefly wondering what was scarier the Hillways, or the state of this number.

Being almost the only people not in the number, Seb, Gina, Kourtney and Big Red shifted their seats to move closer to each other, not before Seb shot a quick grin and thumbs up to Rico, who had been dragged into the number to make the ensemble members an even number by Jenn and Carlos, much to the juniors irritation.

Gina leaned in to whisper, not wanting to disturb the rehearsal, "so you're all pretty serious about this Hillways thing here?" She asked

"The disappearance was a big deal back then, it kinda still is now, people still don't know what happened to the family, though you should know that not everyone believes that they were killed by a vengeful demon"

"Actually, Kourtney just doesn't want to believe it was a demon" Big Red cut in

"You can fight a person, you can't fight a ghost" the two crew members said almost in unison, Big Red earning himself a playful swat to the ribs from the makeup artist.

"Nini, Ricky, Red and I used to have sleepovers every Halloween, we'd watch Hocus Pocus and then we'd take it in turns to tell the story of the Hillways" Kourtney explained "I'm all for the supernatural, I just don't want it knocking in my door"

Well that explained the strange look between Ricky and Nini earlier Seb figured, feeling bad for the two, who’s friendship had clearly taken a bash since their break up.

Big Red frowned, "hold on, I've just realised something, the Hillway kids were Sebastian and Regina? Like, Seb and Gina?"

The four of them sat in silence, contemplating Reds revelation before Kourtney shifted away from the group "I'm no helping you two fight any demon"

Seb fought the urge to roll their eyes, maybe Kourtney wouldn't be such a help in their "the Hillways isn't haunted" narrative.

By this point Carlos had called a very stressed five on Get'cha and Jenn had once again left the room on some quest to find a missing prop.

Seb smiled as their boyfriend flopped onto the chair beside them, snaking his arm around Seb's waist.

"What are we talking about?" The choreographer asked, leaning further into his boyfriend.

"Seb and I have the same names as the Hillway kids"

Carlos sat bolt up, pulling away from Seb, who just frowned, "really" they asked raising an eyebrow at their boyfriend.

Carlos made no move to reinitiate the hug, but did have the curtesy to throw them an apologetic look.

"So you're going to the Hillways to fight the demon?" EJ asked, with his big fat mouth again. "I'm pretty sure you're obliged to for the sake of the community" he added

Breaking and entering into a supposedly haunted house on Halloween Seb thought what could possibly go wrong?

"Don't forget to bring something back to prove you did it" Ricky called out from the back of the crowd that had gathered around their small group of four

"Sure, why not?" Gina smirked 

And now Seb found themselves here, picking their way through a vastly overgrown woodland area with a flickering flashlight they had dug out of a kitchen draw and a over eager Gina Porter.

"I maintain that this is a bad idea" they called towards her as she swatted a tree branch away from her face.

"If you're so adamant that this won't end well, why did you agree to come with me? Go home if you want"

Seb sighed, finally catching up to the girl, "I agreed to come with you because I'm not going to let you trespass on a probably condemned house alone, besides, don't both the reincarnated spirits of the Hillway kids have to be there to fight the demon?"

Gina grinned, glancing around the darkened woods, "so you don't believe in this whole supernatural story?"

Seb rolled their eyes, leaning against a tree, "I believe in some supernatural stuff, but the idea that we're reincarnated siblings from the 19th century destined to kill an ancient demon? That's what I think is far fetched" they explained

"So if you don't believe it's real, why are you so concerned about this?"

"Because the Hillways is private property, and what we're about to do is a little something called breaking and entering, why are you so determined that this is a good idea?"

Gina sighed, moving to lean against a tree opposite Seb, "I don't know, I guess I just feel like no one takes me seriously yet, I need to make my mark, and this" she said, whinging her flashlight towards the silhouette of the house in front of them "this is a hell of a mark"

Seb glanced towards the looming house before them, "fine, but in and out, take something small for proof and then we're gone, ok?"

Gina launched into a hug, which caught Seb slightly off guard "thank you, and also this hug never happened, I have a reputation" she joked, forging ahead towards the house.

Any hope Seb had had that the Hillways would be less creepy inside than it was outside quickly dissipated with the sound of the door creaking open, it's lock clearly rusted beyond use, Seb felt their breath catch in their throat, deciding not to comment on the way Gina faltered slightly.

Regaining her composure Gina nodded, and Seb wasn't entirely sure if the action was aimed at them or just an attempt to big herself up into actually crossing the rotted threshold of the house. 

"In and out" she said "we just need proof we did it"

Seb waved their flashlight across the foyer before them, peaking through the doorway slightly, "make sure it's something good, no way am I coming back here"

Gina simply nodded again, before the two of them stepped over the threshold together.

They stood in silence for a moment glancing around the motionless house and then towards each other.

"Well nothing exploded" Gina stated "that's a good start" 

Seb allowed themselves to smile for the first time since the two of them entered the woodland outskirts of the estate.

The girl turned to them "just wait here, I'll go find something to bring back with us" 

Seb nodded, perfectly content to not go any further into what was probably a maze of a house. 

"Don't go to far" they called after her, receiving a simple thumbs up from her as she disappeared through a darkened doorway.

That's when Seb heard it. Scratching.

They shifted uneasily, once again shining their flashlight around the foyer of the house. Despite the scratching sound sounding like it was coming from above them, Seb called out, "Gina? Is that you?" They got not response.

Seb frowned shining the flashlight towards the door Gina had disappeared through seconded earlier, "Gina?" They called again. Nothing.

Pushing down the growing feeling that they were slowly walking into a horror movie, Seb turned towards the stairs, towards the scratching sound.

As their foot landed on the first step, Seb could practically hear people screaming at the screen 'don't do it you idiot' or maybe that was just the rational part of their brain fighting for survival, but as the ancient step managed to not give way under their weight Seb began their slow climb to the second floor of the house, cringing at the creak of every step beneath them.

Briefly the insane realisation that they didn't have an understudy for the musical popped into their head if I die by being mauled by a demon or falling through a rotten wood floor, they'll have no one to replace me they realised. A second part of their brain seemed to be trying to point out that in the face of a strange supernatural death, an understudy for the musical should be the least of their worries, but the more powerful part seemed to have decided that the musical was what they were going to think about rather than the strange scratching, which was definitely getting louder as they approached the top of the stairs.

Scratch...scratch. It was coming from their left now, Seb shivered slightly, briefly contemplating running back down the stairs before they completely fell apart and waiting for Gina back outside the house, trying to weigh up whether the humiliation of telling her that they got so spooked by a superstition in a house they claimed not to believe in was worse than following the demonic scratching sound.

Seb shone their flashlight down the corridor. Demonic scratching it was.

They took hesitant steps down the hallway, silently willing their flashlight to stop flickering, unable to actually make a sound.

Scratch scratch scratch. It was faster now, as if the thing was getting restless, or angry. Seb took a deep breath in, steeling themselves slightly before continuing towards the increasingly louder sound.

Every step they took send a series of creaking across the old wooden floorboards that never seemed to stop, despite Seb stopping periodically to listen for the scratching.

They reached a large dark wooden door at then end of the hallway, straining their ears over the creaking of the rotted floorboards. 

Scratch. Scratch.

The other side of the door. That’s where it was coming from, louder now, even more so now that the creaking had finally died down.

Ignoring the way their hands shook as they reached out to turn the handle, closing their eyes and nodding to themselves, their hand met the cold metal of the handle.

The door swung open easily with a groan of its rusted hinges, Seb shone their flashlight around the room, their breath hitching in their throat as it met with a pair of glowing eyes. 

Seb took a tentative step into the room, shining the flashlight further towards the eyes.

A small kitten was sat in the centre of the room. Seb let out a laugh, releasing a breath they hadn’t realised they had been holding, walking towards the small animal.

“Hi baby” they smiled, scratching the kitten behind its ears, they frowned, it wasn’t wearing a collar and seemed freezing, leaving Seb to wonder how long the poor thing had been stuck in the room, scratching away at the floor, they scooped up the kitten in one hand, hitting the flickering flashlight against their leg in hopes that the battery would hold out a little longer.

As Seb headed back towards the stairs they briefly shone the flashlight back around the second floor of the house, holding the kitten, which had started softly mewing to their chest in an attempt to keep it warm. They rolled their eyes slightly glancing back towards the now open door “ridiculous” they muttered to the kitten as they carefully walked back down the stairs. 

“Gina?” They called out 

“In here!” Came the faint reply from the door she had disappeared into earlier

Seb raised their eyebrows at the kitten, shrugging their shoulders before walking towards Gina’s voice.

Gina was stood in the centre of the room, hunched over something Seb couldn’t make out. “Gina?” They called again.

“I found something” she grinned, waving them over.

“So did I” they replied, lifting the kitten up slightly.

Gina scratched the cat behind its ears, pushing a leather bound book towards them.

Seb glanced over the book before turning to Gina, “is that Latin?” They asked.

“Yeah, I don’t speak much Latin, but I’m 80% sure that it’s a summoning spell” she explained.

Seb stared at her, their mouth slightly agape, “not much Latin?” They asked

“YouTube” she offered as an explanation

The page was adorned with pentagrams and confusing symbols that Seb couldn’t make out, but whatever they were, Seb was inclined to believe Gina’s explanation

“I guess we’ve found our proof” they simply said.

“I’ll take the cat you take the book?” She offered.

“Why do I have to carry the cursed demon book?” Seb complained.

“Because you’re a gentleman?” Gina tried

“I’m not even a man” Seb replied frowning down at the book, “hold on” they continued “if the book is real, and the summoning spell is real...”

Gina just smiled, carefully picking the kitten up from their arms, Seb picked up the book reluctantly, allowing her to lead the way back to the front door.

“Thanks again for doing this” Gina said smiling across to Seb as they attempted to pick their way back through the woods 

“Well trust me, I’m never doing it again” they replied, glancing uneasily down at the book

“So you think the story’s true?” Gina asked, tapping absentmindedly on the book in Seb’s hands.

“I really hope not” Seb replied

The two glanced at each other, smiling, “you can fight a person but you can’t fight a ghost” they said in unison, allowing the house to disappear into the darkness behind them.

**Author's Note:**

> Seb keeps the kitten and calls it Hillway


End file.
